The present invention relates to integrated circuits and, more particularly, to driver circuits.
Chips contain pads through which a signal can be driven off-chip to pins of another board and/or chip The driver circuit must be designed with a predetermined output within a given tolerance range. This predetermined singular amplified drive signal must be sufficient to chive the output signal the required distance accounting for such impediments as available real estate, heat, resistance, capacitance and impedance.
In instances where chips are stacked, creating shorter runs, utilizing the full capacity of a driver would be both wasteful and inefficient since far less power is required. Stacking chips can significantly reduce the need for power consumption, and the use of a singular driver detracts from the efficiency created by stacking the chips, as each driver will be taking up very valuable real estate on the chip.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for technology that can address one or more of the above problems.